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Flash for 7 August 2018

Our meeting began in the usual way with President-Elect Jeff Balzer leading in the Pledge of Allegiance, God Bless America and our invocation by Marcy Zajdel.

Sergeant at Arms Report:
Mark Barnhart reported 31 of our 74 members were in attendance.
Visiting Rotarians: John Ventre from New Stanton-Youngwood Rotary

Announcements:

PLEASE NOTE: We will not have a regular lunch meeting on Tuesday, August 14 as we will be meeting at Twin Lakes Park at 5PM for our Rotary Family Picnic.

Club News:

Foundation Moment with Jeff Balzer: If your teachers ever told you to “go fly a kite” and that it would make you smarter, chances are you would not have believed them. But through a global grant, students in rural Taiwan are doing just that. Making kites and making them fly teaches the students that science affects their daily lives, including their party time, and motivates them to learn more. Through this science education program, students learn to build their own kites, fly them and if the kite won’t fly, then it is up to the student to figure out why not. The kite program is in 20 rural schools and through another phase of the grant, students will learn about working with simple machines – levers, wheels, axles, and gears. To insure the success and sustainability of the program, teachers and county controllers are also being trained in basic math, physics and science.

The Rotary Family Picnic will be Tuesday, August 14 at Pavilion #7 at 5:00PM. Please see Yvonne Bloom to sign up.

The Salvation Army presents a free Back to School Bash on Saturday, August 18, 2018 from 10AM to 1PM at St. Clair Park. The Rotary Club is raising money to be able to fill the hygiene packs for middle and high school students to be presented at the Back to School Bash. We are hoping to sponsor 250 drawstring bags. If you are interested, please see Katie Fishell or Melissa Bowman.

The Rotary Club of Greensburg and Excela Health’s Wellness Screening will be on Saturday, September 15 at 6:30AM at SeniorLife in Greensburg. If you are interested in volunteering, please see Katie Fishell.

Word of the Week with Jim Steeley:
BUCK – From Middle English buc, bucke, bukke, from Old English buc, bucc, bucca (“he-goat, stag”); an abbreviation of buckskin as a unit of trade among Indians and Europeans in frontier days (attested from 1748); possibly originating from the game poker, where a Knife (typically with a hilt made from a stag horn) was used as a place-marker to signify whose turn it was to deal. The place-marker was commonly referred to as a buck hence the term (“pass the buck”) used in poker, eventually a Silver dollar was used in place of a knife leading to a dollar to be referred to as a buck.

Dates to Remember:
• Our Lady of Grace Food Pantry Distribution – first Saturday of every month
• Rotary Family Picnic – August 14 – Twin Lakes Park
• Back to School Bash – August 18 – St. Clair Park

Speaker:
Bob Bloom introduced today’s speaker, Tay Waltenbaugh, CEO of Westmoreland Community Action. We are Westmoreland County’s Community Action Agency, serving low-income individuals and families since 1980. Community Action Agencies provide services and assistance towards the elimination of poverty through developing employment opportunities, improving human performance and productivity or bettering the conditions under which people live, learn and work. Community Action Agencies help people to help themselves in achieving self-sufficiency.